LegendaryLife.com Blog

Maybe a few thousand years ago the fact that somebody got to a certain age meant something but these days, the odds are, you can sit on your ass, doing little with your life to achieve these milestones. As such, what value do birthdays really have?

My own views about my birthday

I celebrated my 31st birthday a few months ago, to be frank, my own birthday had no real value to me. To me, a birthday marks a milestone of achieving one more year on Earth 6ft above ground. I use my birth date every year to review what I did during the previous year and make modifications based on a few days of reflection. This year, I was camping on a remote beach, maybe next year at the top of a mountain, who knows.

What happened to our Species?

I see the rampant over-glorification of birthdays all over the place, from million dollar mega parties for sweet sixteens (????) to people hitting the bar to get as piss drunk as possible in celebration. I just do not get it, I know somebodies birthday is today and I am questioning myself as to how to not take away from their perceived excitement yet still be true to myself. I don’t force my views on anybody else but I don’t hide my views neither.

In my case, if I was living out in the jungle (or Savannah) for 31 years, I would be a grandfather by now with more then my fair share of bruises and broken bones from daily hunting excursions. I would have vivid stories to tell of when I spent an entire day with elephant crap all over my body after being told by my brother Click-Clack that it was mud. I would be able to point to my legs with gashes a few inches long and say how a bear almost ripped off my leg but I stabbed him in the heart right on time or how a horny bat wouldn’t leave me alone while out hunting one day. THERE WOULD BE STORIES TO TELL! I would have beaten the odds that would be stacked against me from the very day of my birth. I would be lucky to see the age of 40 years old! I would be considered an upcoming elder who has managed to help the tribe achieve some important milestones such as an infant mortality rate of only 20% in the first 5 years of life, providing meat for my 20+ kids and be so sun baked that I would physically look like I was 60 years old. Wow… 31 is HUGE, too bad I missed out due to me living in this modernized mono-culture we call civilized life. Of course, I could have also been one of those unlucky 20% of kids and never seen the age of five, life goes both ways.

Life is too easy

I was reading an article on CNN in which antidepressants, medication used by people to treat depression, are the most prescribed drug category in the United States. What is even more depression (pun intended) is these rates are skyrocketing. Why? I believe our modern life has gotten far too easy and predictable to the point that people are unable to cope with change or worse, unable to cope with the life they have lead to this point. They need their medication simply to get through another day!

Going back to birthdays, imagine being showered with gifts for doing something that unless you where very unlucky in life or just plane dumb, was a given. Am I the only one who thinks this is a rather empty celebration?

Alternatives: Celebrate Achievements, Not Birthdays

Yes, that’s right, if you graduate university, that is an achievement, by all means, have a small celebration. Your great uncle reached the age of 90 years old and is hoping around town chasing girls half his age… yes, that deserves a pint of beer at the local bar. One of your nephews businesses have achieved a million dollars in sales… again, party time. Do you see what I am coming at? We should get rid of this whole birthday celebration stuff and instead celebrate real achievements in our modern society. Birthdays are meaningless while achievements, big and small, are something really worth celebrating. These will be remembered and a highlight of a life when we are all on our death beds taking in our last breath.

To me, the things I look back upon so far in my short life are about both the great successes and tremendous failures I have achieved so far, each with their lessons. I can honestly look back and say, so far, I have a very good track record of LIVING MY LIFE. Birthdays, well, I cannot remember any gifts I received but I do remember the people.

Exceptions

Of course, people who have had very difficult lives deserve great birthdays, especially those who are unfortunate to suffer from medical or mental conditions. It can help lighten the mood and put their lives back in focus.

The Bottom Line

This is worth repeating, celebrate achievements, not birthdays.

Reference
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html

The only difference between success and failure, happiness and depression is perception. Perception paints our lives in colors of our choosing, perception lies in the heart of every action and most importantly, perception is what molds us to be who we are and how we show ourselves to the world.

Perception is defined

Put a glass of water in front of you but only fill it half way. Is the glass half full or half empty? I figure the odds of somebody saying either statement is the same as a coin toss. This is a classic case of how the same thing is uniquely perceived in two different ways, based on the background, knowledge and experiences of an individual. What I find even more interesting is that those who may perceive the glass to be half empty may see this in a positive light while another person negative. In the end, it doesn’t matter how you define things, it only matters how you perceive things.

What does perception got to do with me?

Both everything and nothing. Take into consideration that EVERYTHING you see, smell or taste goes straight into brain the same way as everybody else but the interpretation is uniquely yours. What might smell great to you might make another person nauseas. Taken a little further, your entire character, lifestyle or predicament in life is heavily influenced by your own perception of the situation. That 9-5 job you toil away on a daily basis, this may be your greatest source of success or dread in life, depending on your perception but also the perceptions of those around you. Perception you see, can be influenced rather easily by others around you if you are weak of mind. Marketing is a classic example of what can happen, you never had a need then you see an ad a few times, by the end the day, deep inside, you feel left out if you don’t purchase xyz item.

Ambiguity of Perceptions

I hope that you can now see how un-black-and-white the whole idea of perception is, now tack onto this the fact that we spend our entire lives pushed and pulled by perception. What is reality but a host of perceptions characterized by the environment we live in, the people we socialize with and our own internal feelings. We tend to see perception in a very limited way while actually, it defines our ENTIRE LIVES. If you saw The Matrix (movie), everything that “sleeping” people see is based off computer algorithms, well, perception is the same way except that it’s completely self-defined. Perception is so self-defined in fact, that separating thoughts from perception is just about impossible.

Perpetual Happiness?

Evolutionarily speaking, mother nature doesn’t care if we are happy or not, only that we reproduce “thrive” in the environment we find ourselves in. Sometimes those who are the most depressed have the most children, their only source of joy is having offspring while sometimes the opposite holds true. What I am trying to say is that no matter what you do or, more importantly, perceive things to be, nobody cares, not even mother nature. We all have ulterior motives behind each action we do, sometimes they are pure altruism while other times the cost doesn’t come to bear until time has elapsed a little more.

Quick Summary

Now that we have undefined perception and happiness, we can delve into why people DON’T do things. You see, not doing things is easy, doing them is hard as it is a predicator of additional work having to be done. For instance, your brain perceives that in three months you will not be able to pay the mortgage. There are two courses of action, one is to be depressed and do nothing while the other is to actively find a solution before the deadline hits. Doing nothing is easy but it will hit you with a tonne of bricks a few months from now, doing something beyond buying lottery tickets, is hard, as it may mean you put your house for sale, get a new job or make additional sacrifices.

I hope that you have come to the realization that your internal feelings are simply a perception as well. If you are sad, it’s because you perceive yourself as so while if you are happy, again, perception is defining this for you as well. As such, you can always modify your perception at a drop of a hat to be what you find most efficient in any particular case. Sometimes being depressed is a good thing, other times, detrimental… but this is always under YOUR control.

Why Not?

Alright, I hope the above has sunk in at least a little because now we deal with the question I ask myself before I do anything kinda crazy… Why Not? This is a very dangerous question as it can lead to spectacular changes in your life which don’t always work out the way you want. You see, the onus is on why NOT to do something which indirectly states you have already made a decision to DO something and are trying to talk yourself out of it. The way most people lead their lives, they try to convince themselves why to do something as indirectly, they have made a decision not to do it. I hope this makes sense. The next time you have a major decision, ask your self… Why Not?

The Bottom Line

Why not do something drastic today?

I have heard of this several times in the media now, former star turned murderer and coward, Chris Benoit was found in a home with his dead 7 year old child and wife. The medias take… STEROIDS DID IT!

He had problems

Although this is a developing story, based on what I read, it seems this guy had problems for a long time. In 2003 his wife filed for divorce, placed a restraining order against him and to say his job is violent is an understatement. So why the focus on steroids?

Steroids did it!

I am getting tired of the media characterizing steroids as causing “roid rage” which can, within an instant, cause a totally normal person to go on a violent killing spree. It doesn’t work that way! Politicians, in their absolute ignorance will jump on this to put even further resources to stop the steroid epidemic from killing other innocent victims. When ever there is a suicide, murder or violence with steroids at the scene, the media instantly link that as the cause and that’s the end of the story. Pushing the myth that this is an extremely dangerous drug when the opposite is true.

What is steroids, what it does and doesn’t do

Steroids is used not only by bodybuilders, it’s used for wasting diseases to help keep a person from totally wasting away (ei: AIDS, Cancer etc. ) but the media seems to think that only bodybuilders use this to build up their incredible physique. From my talks with various steroid users, this “roid rage” is simply a boost of energy when working out. Those who describe this as violent tendencies had them before, no different then an alcoholic blaming a rampage on a bottle of Vodka. Steroids is simply a scape goat used by people to lay blame on something else for their actions and decisions.

Steroids vs Alcohol vs Cocaine

Oddly enough, the FDA is so concerned about the social impact that steroids can have on society that in the United States, it’s classified along the same hard drugs as Cocaine and even Heroin. Put another way, they don’t mid alcohol being advertised and sold to drunk drivers, they don’t mind tobacco being sold which causes cancer but those damn steroids have got to go! Many countries, wrongly, have also banned the use of recreational steroids. Steroids does screw up your hormonal balance and cause grown men to cry like a school girl when they go off, but the impact of a drunk is far worse on society in my opinion. If followed by a doctor, I think steroids are perfectly safe, many men are on hormone replacement therapy and they aren’t out there killing people!

The Bottom Line

Chris is a looser, plain and simple, I can only hope they place blame on HIM and not steroids.

References
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/06/25/wrestler.dead.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

Believe it or not, how you manage your health has a lot related to the video game of Tetris! We are all born with roughly the same health quotient of 1, what we do from this point on determines whether that quotient goes up or down.

Level 1: Start off slow
Slowly the stacks come onto one another, each successive level, the flow of new puzzle pieces speeds up. As things are still moving pretty slow at the start, you have plenty of time to fix mistakes, build up some positive traps and get ready for the oncoming onslaught that life throws at you.

Level 2: Getting Interesting
You begin to notice subtle changes, if your lucky, you still have plenty of time to make further changes in your game pieces for optimal positioning. You begin to get a flow going, expectations and instinct begin to show their face. The other puzzle pieces begin to make sense.

Level 3: All There
Hopefully the positioning you did earlier in the game begin to pay dividends, you can produce line after line, exponentially increasing your score. What once made little to no sense all begins to come together. You have done well grasshopper!

Level 4: Things are Speeding Up!
What was once a leisurely pace is starting to speed up, puzzle piece after puzzle piece fall, most of the time you can fix previous errors but you now have less time to think in between each puzzle piece coming down. You begin to rely more and more on instinct, trying to stay ahead of the game.

Level 5: Realizations are made
If you where smart in the past few levels and built up a bank of easy line formations, level 5 is no big deal, you have made provisions for what was about to come up in the next few levels just incase. You are benefiting greatly now from those decisions. If you didn’t think ahead, mistakes begin to occur, some you can fix, others permanent with little you can do about it other then hope you don’t make anymore.

Level 6-8: Drop off
Here is where most people begin to fall off the track, the puzzle pieces are falling too quickly and lack of foresight has taken its toll.

Level 9-11: Drop off 2
Those who get to this level where either very lucky or planned well along ahead to get to this point, regardless, the stacks usually end up too high and the game is over for most of them.

Level 12-13: Drop off 3
Maybe 0.5% of people playing this game will get to this level of game play, the puzzle pieces are falling incredibly fast but with proper planning and a honed instinct, you may proceed to the next level or perish in this one.

Level 14: The End
The puzzle pieces are simply falling too fast to keep up, one after another after another, instinct simply isn’t good enough anymore. The pace you where able to maintain before is simply too much, as the puzzle pieces build up to the top, you quickly see a GAME OVER. Nobody has achieved this level of success, it’s like the 5 minute mile, my goal is to break this milestone so that others know it IS possible!

Conclusion
Multiply each level by 10, this will give you something to think about as this number will represent AGE, the game represents your health. My goal in life is to get to level 14, it will take a lifetime of habits, lots of luck and an incredibly amazing desire to beat all the odds.

The Bottom Line
Tetris is a great analogy not only for health but for life in general… play it often to gain new insights!

Habits are difficult to build but once established into a routine, easily maintained. The trick is to have a grand vision of where you want to be and get back on the road as quickly as possible if you get bumped off.

Culture of Futility

Sometimes I feel like a priest preaching the virtues of abstinence in the middle of an all out orgy. I am only starting to connect the dots after years of study and from speaking with others whom I consider addicts… discovering small glimpses from societies around the world. So far, I have come to realize that we have a very large scale problem in this world, that that is a culture of futility.

I was having a conversation with a friend a few days ago about what we learned over the weekend, they told me xyz and I replied by saying that I learned there is a 21% increase in breast cancer for those who drink alcohol on a regular basis. Yes, I am quite the conversationalist aren’t I! The answer wasn’t, “that’s horrible, I will try to quit drinking when I get back from work”, the answer was “ya, but how much you got to drink to get to those numbers”. This struck me as quite odd, this is a very sane and intelligent person but by their answer, they are trying to find out how much drinking they can get away without acquiring this disease.

You see the same thing in smokers, I am not shy about asking them why they smoke, I asked one person why they don’t go on the patch so they can avoid lung disease and a host of other PREVENTABLE and KNOWN diseases that are lining up inside of them. Their answer, “I don’t want to wear a patch, I want to feel the cigarette hanging from my mouth”. Again, a totally illogical answer to a straight forward question.

When I was in university, you where the odd man out if you didn’t go binge drinking on the weekend, if you managed to stay sober during the week, as soon as Friday came around you would hear “I am getting so wasted tonight”. From both women and men… on Monday, they would look “totally wasted” and thus, survive sober for a few more days till Friday night came about again.

On a larger scale, look at our governments, other then Muslim countries where alcohol is banned (but still easy to acquire), most of the world allows for the relatively free distribution of as much alcohol as you can afford. Why? Alcohol is a depressant, leaches good stuff out of the body and has a huge negative social impact. China has a state monopoly on cigarettes, they are producing and distributing those to all its citizens en mass. We all know cigarettes are bad yet governments around the world took FOREVER and even now, excess feet dragging is occurring regarding this horrible product. Why? Thailand bans protein powder (which helps athletes) yet doesn’t ban cigarettes nor alcohol. Australia bans creatine and a host of beneficial supplements used by athletes yet, from living here, alcohol and cigarettes freely available and advertised. The United States bans ephedra based products and is starting to clamp down on multi-vitamins (ei: supplements) yet does very little in regards to harmful products as mentioned previously.

The Grander Picture

There is a very large percentage of people in this world who are very unhappy with their lives, sure, they have a car, a house, kids and friends but still, they find a desire, a need, to form habits that not only provide no benefit but are actually detrimental to the lives they enjoy. These negative habits seem to be re-enforced within society, with the positive ones swiped away ever so gently to not cause too much commotion. Most people on the street simply don’t have a clear vision of where their lives are going, they focus on getting by week by week… before they know it, they are in the hospital prematurely because of the habits they have acquired throughout a lifetime. Look at people in the eyes as you walk around, you will notice many seem totally clueless about the environment around them. It still amazes me how many people at the checkout counter never even bother looking up at the customer who is giving them money! I cannot figure this out as when I speak even to store managers, the same complete avoidance of eye contact is there as well. Puzzling…

It’s Not all Bad!

On the other end of the spectrum are people like me, who focus on trying to change the world for the better, who are constantly striving to perfect not only themselves but those around them. We are the designated drivers at your parties, we are the guys who don’t need maternity cloths or the women who are breaking new social barriers. Most people on the street consider bodybuilders to be freaks of nature yet don’t seem to be bothered by people weighting 2-3x a normal persons weight. Most people think it’s too hard going to the gym and eating a proper diet yet these same people can be seen sitting in front of a television for hours on end eating chips while downing pop. There is a wall in our society, between those who get it and those who choose not to. Buying 200 dollars worth of liquor for a weekend party isn’t a big deal but people consider you nuts if you buy that same amount in health supplements such as protein, creatine, BCAA etc. Why?

But there is desire for change

There is a huge desire by those who don’t take care of themselves to gain the body and health benefits of those who do. Look at the scams out there, from Mannatech to Atkins, Weight Watchers to Jenny Craig… these people really want to be healthy, they simply haven’t experienced enough pain yet, living the life they lead now to make a life altering switch to the good side. They throw money at problems and only end up poorer, they throw away time reading books but only end up forgetting to apply what they have learned and they watch television telling them another way of life is possible but simply choose to continue sitting till the next program comes on. People seem to be happy about dreaming of their ideal health but don’t have enough desire to take the first steps towards turning this dream into reality.

The Bottom Line

You cannot hide from habits, positive or negative, they will enter your life so you must make a conscious effort to selectively pick which ones become you.

This is an easy no… no matter what you read about how great our bodies are for us, we have an incredibly list of deficits with our only saving grace being our collective intellect.

Humans have severely under-developed and limited perceptual senses

Sure, we have our five (some would argue six) senses but compared to other animals, they are nowhere near optimal. Sharks can “smell” blood in the water at great distance while we simply cannot smell in this medium and dogs can smell things we probably are happy not to have the ability to do so. Our vision is very poor in the darkness compared to nocturnal animals nor are we able to see full spectrum rays (UV etc.), our hearing has much to be desired and our sense of taste is actually quite limited.

Our bodies are incredibly fragile and weak

Our bodies are very fragile compared to other animals, we break bones rather easily, not as easily as birds but pretty darn close in my opinion, we are not very strong and our muscles take forever to build up. We suffer from a multitude of diseases that further hamper our abilities and we have a rather weak immune system. Scavengers live off eating putrid meat that would kill us in a heartbeat if we could scoff it down. The layout of our bodies is rather extended and lanky, leading us to be even more prone to survival based damage. Compare our bodies to that of a Black Bear and you see right away our vast array of physical limitations, these beasts never spend a day in the gym but have more power then a whole team of professional power-lifters. They can easily out-run us in any race and have agility to match. Same goes for tigers, walruses and just about any animal out there weighing the equivalent or more then your average human. Even our closest genetic cousins can easily tear our bodies limb from limb without even breaking a sweat.

Modern life has killed our survival skills

You cannot take modern life out of the equation, when it fails a lot of people are really going to be counting down their lives in days. If you look at past human civilizations there is a cycle of boom and bust, we are all lucky to have lived a few generations in a relatively stable boom but the bust will happen, we just don’t know when or the circumstances leading to its emergence. We have grown so accustom to grocery stores feeding us that the majority of us have forgotten how to hunt, farm and gather our own food. We go to Walmart to buy our clothing and supplies, without a clue of how to make them for ourselves. We spend way too much time patting ourselves on the back for things that really are not important yet ignore the fact that we live in a very small planet and without all these modern advances, basically screwed to square one in a little over a month.

So if our bodies are so inferior, why are we thriving?

There are two answers to this. First, we are inferior except for one area that matters, our brains. Our brains differentiate us from all other organisms out there, sure, we can’t run as fast as a cheetah but we can build cars that break the sound barrier. We cannot fly like a bird but we can build planes that are capable of inter-stellar travel. We cannot take body damage all that well but we have incredibly medical advances that can cure just about anything nature can throw at us. You see, we are thriving because of our brain, it more then makes up for any and all inferiorities that our bodies have. This is why I consider our brain and body to be two separate organisms living in a mutually beneficial relationship. Without one, the other simply cannot function. The other reason why our species is thriving on this planet is due to our modern civilization, if you look at the worldwide population patterns of the human species through time, it remains relatively stable for hundreds of thousands of years… we EXPLODE once we create modern agriculture, trade and medicines… but that my friends, is another story.

The Bottom Line

We must NEVER forget collectively our humble beginnings as we will return to them one day, preparation is the only way to ease the transition.

There is a real reason why I don’t have a television, telephone nor miss them… I grew increasingly tired of the constant brainwashing of marketers trying to convert an unknown want into a NEED.

Want vs need

We NEED food, fire, shelter and in my case, Internet – everything else is bonus as far as I am concerned. What marketers do is convert wants, such as the latest packaged food, value meal item or health craze into a need to their profit and your detriment.

Marketing isn’t all bad

Marketing done to promote good habits, positivity and happiness I am all for, but those used to sell a product that doesn’t work, lie to their “captive audience” or promote what is incredibly unhealthy behaviors should be sent on way plane ticket to the front lines of the latest war zone.

Some marketing is good, like telling you it’s tax season but the vast majority (sadly) of promoted stuff is simply mindless junk that interferes directly with leading a productive lifestyle. Imagine how much you COULD accomplish in your life if, instead of spending a few hours a night watching your favorite shows, that you used this time more wisely improving your life and those around you. Well, this is what I realized a few years ago and have never looked back! Same goes with radio, magazines, commercial books etc… if you cut the crap, your left with gold if you are willing to allow your mind to think for itself.

Don’t believe me about the advertising out there?

Here is but a fractional glimpse at what you are being told without even knowing it, and this is just articles published in the last week from one news agency!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/popup?id=3221225&contentIndex=1&page=1

Doctored magazine covers (they do this on inside pages as well as advertisers btw), where the image you see is trying to convey a necessary need that you didn’t know you had. For instance, famous people being “slimmed” or “bulked” based on what the magazine wishes to promote for their own gain or those of their advertisers.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3201973&page=1

Although completely non-scientific, I find it ironic that people who have way too much experience in alcohol and claim they can differentiate one brand from another ALL AGREE that the brand they love the most (with associated cost) they actually HATE when blindfolded. This shows how powerful marketing can be, overriding your own brains perception and senses. Now, extend this to other foods like McBarf (and other unhealthy fast foods), Cars etc… Powerful stuff huh?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3222527&page=1

“The CDC reports that nearly 71 percent of American men are overweight or obese. ” Huh? And the weight loss industry that does such a phenomenal job taking advantage of woman with their dis-information campaigns will now be responsible for doing the same to men? I still don’t understand why the government has done so little to stop this entire industry from essentially brainwashing the vast proportion of the populations they “invade” with their propaganda that the only way to loose weight is to buy their products that don’t work! If you are too “busy” to spend 10 minutes cooking your own meals, you need to review your life, not send up to 50$ a day eating mostly un-nutritious processed foods which will only increase the potential for you actually BECOMING what you are avoiding.

What is the solution?

Well, I have found it, drop out! I don’t care if xyz celebrity stubbed their toe this morning but I do care about what is going on in Sudan. I don’t care about my love handles (not that I have much of any) but I do care about how to cook a nutritious meal for my family and friends. I don’t care if I spent the last three hours working on myfoodcount.com but I do care that I was interrupted by a telemarketer. Does this make sense to you or is it just me? In either case, the less I participate with this, the more productive I become and the happier I am with what I do have. I have more time to learn about the world around me as well and cross-reference news to get all 3 sides of the story.

…but you have ads on your site!

Yes, myfoodcount.com also has a marketplace selling things that IMPROVE your life and many other features, these are used to continue supporting the site (ei: pay the bills). They are not blaring (if I find them to be so, I remove them). Amazon links are also double lined – so as to not confuse a valid link from one based on selling as well (I didn’t have to do this but I chose to). I also cannot choose what text ads show up on this site nor is spending my days filtering ad content a good use of time - I have higher priorities. They are mostly always placed in the same places so they are easily ignored if you so choose. Overall, the message behind myfoodcount.com is non-biased health information regardless of your social, economic or geographical situation so I try my best to keep things in this spirit. I can only hope that this spirit gets through to the users and visitors of this site.

The Bottom Line

Marketing that promotes detrimental products or services should be banned outright with incredibly high personal and business penalties to those who break them.

In the past 20 years of my life, I have noticed a battle similar to the one waged in the natural world… that of “predator” and “prey”… the major difference is that one is for survival while another is for what ever is left of our money after the governments get their ever increasing cut.

Disclosure… what’s it all about?

It’s a well known secret that every time you watch TV, it’s the advertising that helps pay for the air time to run the shows you enjoy – another worse kept secret is when ever you watch a movie, it isn’t a co-incidence that a particular actor wears a certain suit, drives a specific car and even has particular beverage preferences… but bloggers? Yep, now there are a few business models out there that PAY bloggers to promote their product… the controversy isn’t whether they are getting paid or not, but whether they need to disclose that they are essentially receiving payola.

Advertising… what’s next?

We are all great now at completely avoiding any conscious thought when viewing an advertising, much like TIVO screwed up the revenue models for many broadcasters – we have all evolved to be fantastic advertisorus ignoramus’s. Advertisers realized this and moved a step up in the attack against our wallets, they are like tigers who are always trying to “outsmart” their customers from their money instead of a trusted friend wanting to HELP us. We cannot trust what people tell us about a particular product because there is always the question of bias, a few years back stock recommendations made “undisclosed” promoters waterfalls of money before the government in one of its few instances of action “banned” the practice… where does this all lead? Are advertisers going to begin going after my parents in their retirement to tell their kids about the newest product to make them money and my life more complicated? Don’t worry – I am sure there is a business model being developed as we speak to after those who we least suspect of making money from their words.

Christmas…

Christmas, to me at least, is becoming the equivalent of an endless commercial, repeated over and over and over again… some people love Christmas, for many of us, it’s a “legit” excuse to spend money that we really don’t need to otherwise while for others, it’s simply a religious festival. Is it just me or does this orgy of consumerism start early every year and much like Santa on his slay, free of the binds of time, lasting far longer then the days on the calendar would indicate? To me, consumerism is starting to really put a damper on this whole event… do I really need to listen to yet another song about Rudolf brought to you by XYZ? Do I really need to watch the monotony of every commercial using red and white “coke inspired” colors schemes? Do I really need to watch 20 versions of the “Night Before Christmas” using different products? Much like I am becoming an expert at tuning out advertising… sadly, the whole idea of Christmas is also being phased out of my mind… thanks to advertisers.

Advertisers… they ain’t all bad

Before you think I am anti-advertising, I am not… they have their place like anything else in our lives… my problem is with the AMOUNT being trusted within my mind whether I want it there or not… especially over any (you name it) holiday. I lived 300 days without seeing a coke commercial with Santa Clause, I sure as hell can live another 300 years without seeing it again, but sadly, I will see it next year, different actor, same message. I don’t know where advertising went wrong, it seems to me, they are increasingly struggling to get my attention, struggling to be heard… much like spam… at first it wasn’t bad but not it’s completely out of control.

Solutions

If an advertiser actually has something that will IMPROVE my life, not negligible, not a rehashing of the same concept but something that will actually IMPROVE MY LIFE – I welcome being approached, otherwise donate your marketing budget to the needy – I want no part of it. I have had ENOUGH.

The Bottom Line

This blog was not sponsored by XYZ…

I read an article from Forbes about the problems @ Pfizer for their new anti-heart-attack drug called Torcetrapib and it got me thinking… why are these companies spending BILLIONS of dollars annually to solve problems that are mostly preventable? Wouldn’t that money be better spent on prevention and education?

What’s in it for the big pharma

Profits, the sole focus of a corporation is to generate profits, the more, the better… the most efficient way for big pharma to generate profits is to create drugs that must be taken for the rest of the patients life – mortality is the ultimate motivator. Remember, their focus is on profits, not the health of the individual. I repeat, if its more profitable to treat a condition then to prevent it… the big pharma will focus on treatment. They ARE NOT in the business of altruism no matter how much marketing they do portraying otherwise. I acknowledge their efforts and applaud them – I am not anti-pharmaceutical, they have their place.

What’s is in it for the government

The role of government is to make sure we are all on an equal footing and can enjoy life in a stable environment. In my world, the easiest way to achieve this is through perfect health, rich or poor – if everybody was in the best shape of their lives throughout all their lives, the world would be a far better place. When people can focus on their dreams instead of finding money for a gym membership or even fixing a root canal – you have created an environment of not only stability but exuberantly positive self-esteem, curing many social ills and diseases that plague us today. If you choose to be unhappy in this environment, then it’s the governments role to ship you to a remote island to be with others of your unhappy kind.

Drugs aren’t the answer

Let’s see, obesity 99% of the time is directly related to poor diet and exercise habits. It’s no secret that the diabetes epidemic is directly related to the obesity epidemic that is spreading throughout the world. What is big pharma doing to solve the problem, they are pouring billions of dollars into anti-obesity, anti-cancer, anti-diabetes etc. drugs that as their patient get sick, they can generate revenues to extend their lives. Again, I am fine with that, but where is the government in all this? NOWHERE! I see more self-congratulatory public service announcements during non-election season about how good the party you didn’t vote is doing then I do about how to prevent obesity, diabetes, cancer etc… what do I take from this? The government doesn’t care – and if they don’t care about me, then I don’t care about them. No wonder they are increasing irrelevant.

Drugs have BAD side effects – habits do not

If something works, it generally has both positive and negative effects. All drugs, by their nature have side effects. Drugs are made public when their positive effects are perceived to exceed their negative ones. Good habits on the other hand, don’t generally have bad side effects when correctly performed – if you choose not to brush your teeth, you get cavities, if you don’t have money, then you pop pills to dull the pain but if you brushed your teeth correctly to begin with, the need for drugs would have been eliminated. The same goes with many other diseases that plague western culture.

Drugs cost money, habits save money

Using the above example, if you invested in a good toothpaste and toothbrush and spent TIME correctly cleaning your teeth, you wouldn’t need to spend money going to a dentist to fix your cavities, nor would you need to spend money on pain pills NOR would you suffer from the side-effects that poor oral hygene bring into your life – social, economic, health and opportunities lost.

Drugs have their place

I think drugs have their place, when I got my appendix removed, I was happy a pharmaceutical company developed Demerol to keep me unconscious during the proceeding days to heal properly – but when it comes to treating preventable conditions, the focus of government should not be on ignorance.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking for a magic pill to cure what you have done to yourself on purpose through a lifetime of poor habits – you are fooling yourself into an early grave.

Important Links:
http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2006/12/02/pfizer-cholesterol-fda_cz_mh_1202torcetrapib.html
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Diabetes/dh/3135

Without search engines, the internet would be a very user-unfriendly medium that probably never would have exploded into peoples lives as it has. The internet was developed by the United States Department of Defence to assure that if it control centers where nuked, the D.O.D. still had a means of retaliation since all the centers would be linked up. The fact that it forever changed world economies and politics was simply a fluke never envisioned by its developers.

U.S. Web giants slammed over China
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/02/15/china.us/index.html